I'll Be Seeing You
by Kirin-sama
Summary: Lydia dies...and doesn't wait for Beetlejuice. Seventeen years later, he meets Bo Khorami. She looks nothing like Lydia. But she has her eyes. Please read and review! I'd like to know if I'm posting tripe or not.
1. Seventeen Years

Disclaimer: I don't own Beetlejuice's fine dead ass. That's Timmy's property.

Author's note: So I was torn between writing an actual story and writing one of my Making Fun of Blah Blah Blah series, similar to how I ripped Phantom of the Opera a new one a few years ago. Only I would be making fun of Beetlejuice fanfiction, instead of the franchise itself, which even a cynic like myself can't bring herself to make fun of, since it is, simply, brilliant. Except Beetlejuice fanfiction tends to be pretty good, I've noticed. So that idea vomited on itself.

So here's a real, actual, FO SHIZZLE story.

Chapter 1 Seventeen Years

_Well._ He thought grimly. _I guess that's that._

Beetlejuice had been waiting in Lydia's room for the greater part of the week after her funeral, but she never appeared. He counted the cracks on the ceiling, snooped through her drawers, even attempted to comb his hair with that weird little ivory thing on her vanity (it took three hours to remove it again), but she never came, and after seven days, he had to accept it.

She was gone. Shit happens, and Lyds was gone. For whatever reason, she couldn't wait around for him.

Beetlejuice didn't know what came after the "hereafter," but Juno told him once that there were special places for special people.

Basically, Lyds was a good kid and she went to heaven without having to wade through bullshit for a hundred years.

He sat on her bed and put his head in his hands.

He didn't know it (and he probably wouldn't have cared if he did), but the moment he put his head in his hands, a woman in Gary, Indiana gave birth to a beautiful baby girl who, oddly enough, didn't cry at finding herself in the world.

And what with one thing and another, seventeen years passed. A decade and seven years was absolutely nothing to Beetlejuice. Hell, a century was a maybe a couple of years to him. And he missed Lyds, that was for damn sure, but he was still the ghost with the most.

"The ghost with the most goddamn numbers, you mean," he snarled, staring at his ticket in the waiting room. 6,345,998,124. He didn't feel brave enough to pull any There-Goes-Elvis tricks; mainly because no one gave a shit about Elvis anymore. He actually got about half the waiting room with There-Goes-Heath-Ledger, but THAT ended with a nice swift kick in the balls from the receptionist when she found out her big tenth grade crush hadn't actually walked through the door.

No pulling shit. God, this was SO BORING.

"I'M SO BORED!" Beej whined, turning into a plank of wood.

"Then why don't you give yourself a challenge and see how long you can shut the fuck up?" The receptionist snapped. She still was miffed about the Heath Ledger incident, even though it happened two years ago.

How long had he been in the Waiting Room? At LEAST ten years. Maybe fifteen? No…

"Fuck it, I lost track," he groaned.

Why did Juno even need to see him? He hadn't pulled anything major lately. After Lyds died, he really didn't feel the urge. Maybe a few snake tricks, a couple of Ooga Booga closet attacks, but nothing that would have him filling out paperwork for the rest of his eternity. Or waiting in the Waiting Room for the rest of eternity.

He looked up at the ticket sign. 6,345,998,123.

Wait.

He looked at it again.

Holy shit.

"YEEESSSS!" He exploded out of his seat, turning into a rocket.

The sign changed to 6,345,998,124.

Beetlejuice lurched out of his seat and headed through the doorway, blowing a kiss at the receptionist, who promptly flipped him off.

Juno, needless to say, was not thrilled to see Beetlejuice. She never was. She hypothesized that he was the sole reason for her current addiction to aspirin, and probably also the main reason why she's had carpal tunnel five times from filling out paperwork. God only knew why she was doing this for him. She reasoned that this will help keep him in line, the way Lydia always had…this is for the good of the Neitherworld, nothing more.

Juno took a deep breath and assumed her usual sardonic look as Beetlejuice sashayed into her office, humming.

"So, Junes…" he began in a light voice. "How's it hangin', huh, babes?"

"I don't have time for this." Juno rolled her eyes and lit a cigarette. "Sit down, and shut up. We have a lot to talk about."

Beetlejuice obeyed. For once.

Juno dug through her files until she found what she was looking for.

And when she did, she slapped it on her desk and inched it towards Beetlejuice's pale, grimy hands.

It was a photo. Of a girl.

"The fuck is this?" Beetlejuice murmured, looking at the picture. The chick was laughing. She had long yellow hair that fell past her shoulders, almost covering tits that, BJ had to admit, were pretty nice. Her smile was broad, and her eyes were closed.

He tossed the photo back. "What's your point, babes? Who is this?"

Juno exhaled an inordinate amount of smoke. "This," she rasped, "is Lydia."

Beetlejuice looked at the photo. He looked at Juno. He looked at the photo again, his eyes lingering for a long time.

"Huh." He said.

Alright, I'd love to write more, but I have an exam to study for, and I really should pass it...although flunking out of school WOULD give me more time to write fanfiction. Except I don't think that's quite worth the plummeting of self-esteem. I promise I'll update soon!

--Kirin


	2. It's Showtime

"Junes." Beetlejuice looked up from the photograph. "I'm going to put this as clearly and calmly as possible: What the fuck are you trying to pull?"

Juno snorted, "So this is the thanks I get for attempting to reunite you with your little love bunny. I knew you were ungrateful, Beej, but really…."

"I ain't ungrateful, babes." Beetlejuice leaned back and propped his feet on Juno's desk, much to her annoyance. "I'm just wondering if this is a prank or some shit like that. I mean, LOOK at this broad. She looks nothing like Lyds!"

Juno narrowed her eyes. "Do you think," she hissed in an exasperated voice, "that we would actually allow Lydia to be reborn into the same body, or anything similar to what it once looked like? That we would allow her to have the same name, the same circumstances—even the same habits—as Lydia did?"

"Well, why couldn't you?" Beetlejuice cocked his head.

"TOO MUCH FUCKING PAPERWORK!" Juno exploded. "Lydia is barely even warm in her grave! Her parents are still alive! Can you imagine what would happen if they met someone who looked and acted exactly as their daughter did? The idea of reincarnation is speculated enough on, BJ, and we don't need two more half-wits getting themselves on Oprah Winfrey and talking about how great it is to have their dead daughter back!"

"Alright, alright, don't get your nappies in a twist," Beetlejuice rolled his eyes at the speech. "So who is this broad, anyway? What's her name?"

"Her name's Bo Khorami." Juno tiredly took a long drag on her cigarette.

"Bo. Bo Khorami. What the hell kind of a name is that? Who names their kid Bo? Shepherds?"

"It's short for Beatrice." Juno said. "And Khorami is from her father. He's Afghani, or some shit like that.

"And her mother?" Beetlejuice asked warily.

"She's from Indiana." Juno's lips curled into a rather unpleasant smile. "Which is where little Bo lives."

"Aw, shit, Juno, you gotta be kidding."

Juno continued to grin. "I'm perfectly serious. She lives in a small town in Indiana. Aw. How romantic."

"And you expect me to go over there and tell her that I'm her best friend from a past life and she'll just fall into my arms and everything will be alright again?" Beetlejuice rolled his eyes once more.

"No. NO." Juno barked. "Under no circumstances are you to tell her that she has had a past life, or that she knew you in that past life. You are to start fresh with her. Like I said, we CANNOT have the living knowing about reincarnation. Most of the dead don't even consider it as a possibility."

"Alright, Junes, alright." Beetlejuice groaned. "I'll go play house with the little squirt. But I doubt I'll see my Lyds anywhere in there, from what you told me."

"You…you will." Juno said.

"How?"

"Look….look at her eyes. Just look in them. You'll see Lydia. Believe me, you'll see her."

Beetlejuice paused on his way out, about to say something, then decided against it, and headed out the door.

Juno sighed. "You're welcome."

She lit another cigarette.

Bo had been practicing the bassoon when he appeared. At first she thought she hadn't taken enough breaths, that she was dizzy and this was just a hallucination as a result of WAY too many runs in one measure, but even after she took a deep breath and gulped down some water, he was still. Fucking. There.

And he was moving.

Bo had five older brothers, all of which loved to pull pranks, many of them sticking close to the old Hide Under The Bed And Growl routine—so she had learned long ago that screaming in fear, while momentarily satisfactory, had absolutely no effect on the situation itself.

So she stayed quiet and looked at the man in the mirror, wondering if he would ever speak. He was pretty frightening, that was for sure. Even in her present state of mind-numbing fear, she saw that his face was probably once very handsome, but it was covered with green shit, and his eyes were too wild to be attractive. His hair was wild too, sort of a yellowish shade. His teeth were pointed. He seemed to be wearing a black and white striped suit.

And then he spoke. Bo jumped for the first time.

"What's shaking, babes?" the man leered. And right in the mirror, he turned into a salt shaker.

Bo couldn't help it. She had to laugh. It just felt right somehow.

_Well. This is going down easier than I thought._

Things could be way worse. She could be throwing shit at him. That lamp looks particularly destructive, Beetlejuice noted.

_But she laughed. She's laughing already._

While he shook himself in the mirror, Beetlejuice looked the chick up and down. She was no munchkin, that was for damn sure. The girl was a goddamn giraffe. Her hair was yellow, and the breasts…_nice._ The broad wasn't gorgeous, but BJ had to admit she wasn't bad looking, all up.

But he saw no resemblance to Lyds.

He couldn't find it in the girl's room, either. It wasn't a horror of pink fluff, but it wasn't dark like Lyds' had been. He had to admit there were some points of interest, though; a giant world map, a huge bookshelf, and an entire wall covered with newspaper clippings.

She finally spoke after she finished giggling. "Who are you?" It wasn't demanded, it was requested. It was like they just met in a café.

"Well…actually, babes, I can't tell you that." Beetlejuice smirked a bit, suddenly enjoying himself.

"Why not?"

"Rules are rules, kid. I don't make 'em, I just try to break 'em."

To his surprise, the girl giggled again. She wasn't scared of him? Hell.

"I'll give you a hint, " BJ went on. "Here's the first word."

Bo looked down, and suddenly, the floor was covered with bugs…with…

"BEETLE!" she shrieked, hopping up and down.

"Good." He smirked. "You're a natural, kid. Now, here we go…"

A glass of orange juice appeared before Bo. She stared at it blankly.

"Beetle….orange?"

Shake of the head.

"Beetle….glass?"

Shake of the head. Narrowing of the eyes.

"Beetle…uhh….Beetle….juice?"

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" BJ jumped up and down in the mirror. "You got it, kid! Now just say it two more times!"

"Wait a minute." The kid suddenly looked suspicious. "Okay, so in the past five minutes, I've come to two conclusions. One, you're a horrific hallucination that's a direct result from studying too hard for finals.

"'Horrific.'" Beetlejuice mused. "I like that."

"Two," she went on, "You're Satan in a striped suit and you'll kill me and my family if I say your name two more times. I prefer the latter, because I'd really rather not be crazy, but both come with their fair share of downsides. However, given that both are rather unpleasant choices, I've decided to nip this in the bud while I can. In other words, GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM MY MIRROR."

She said it loud enough to scare the crap out of him, but not enough to make him budge.

"Actually, babes, I'm neither." Beetlejuice idly picked at his nails. "I'm not quite Satan, although some of the shit I do COULD give him a run for his money. Heh heh. Naw, I'm not evil. But I'm a ghost."

"You're a ghost?" Bo looked exceedingly interested. She obviously hadn't thought of that.

"I'm the ghost with the most, babes." Beetlejuice smiled, showing his yellow, pointed teeth.

"What can you do?"

"Say my name two more times and I'll show ya."

Silence in the room.

Bo took a deep breath. "Beetlejuice."

He smoothed his hair back.

"Beetlejuice."

The room became dark, and only lightening illuminated Beetlejuice's dead face.

He smiled mischievously.

"It's showtime."


	3. The Wrong BWord

She wasn't sure how he did it, but one minute he was in the mirror, and the next…the next he was standing next to her.

Neat.

Bo looked him up and down. He was averaged sized (though she couldn't exactly judge; she was tall, it couldn't be denied), with a very relaxed posture. She couldn't explain it, but something told her he was trying especially hard to look cool for her. She didn't know why. She hadn't met him before.

But in the same strange way, she got the feeling that he was safe. Not bad, not necessarily good, but…safe.

Which, Bo reasoned to herself, was a very good reason why she hadn't already screamed blue fucking murder. The thought struck her funny and she laughed again.

"What's so hilarious, kid?" Beetlejuice asked.

"You're shorter in person." Bo never missed beats.

But suddenly, she realized she would have to eat her words. Beetlejuice was suddenly growing, over her head, touching the ceiling.

"This tall enough for you?" he called down from eight feet. He leered down at her triumphantly, obviously hoping to freak her out, expecting any moment for her to scream her head off.

She laughed and clapped her hands.

_Christ on a sandwich. _Beetlejuice scratched his head. _She's hard to scare._

He came back down to his normal height, feeling somewhat deflated by the strange girl and her lack of a fight-or-flight response.

_Lydia didn't scare easily either. _A little voice bantered back and forth in Beetlejuice's head. He whacked it away. This chick wasn't Lydia. She didn't look like her, she didn't smell like her, didn't even retain some her basic habits. Lydia's room was a fucking pigsty. This girl kept everything orderly and clean. The bed was made, the floor was clear, and the room smelled light and flowery, like clean laundry.

Fucking disgusting.

He growled a bit and said, "You don't get worked up that much, do ya, kid?"

She looked thoughtful. "I guess not." Bo furrowed her brow even deeper. "It just doesn't make sense, if you think about it, being afraid. I mean, it doesn't help anything. You can't get things done when you're about to shit your pants. There are times when you just…don't have the time to be afraid."

Beetlejuice scoffed. "Jesus, who are you, Plato?"

Bo smiled. "Why, do you know him?"

"Fucker owes me twenty bucks."

Bo laughed again.

And something in Beetlejuice's heart warmed every time she did that. Must've been the burritos. Because he really didn't like the thought of getting attached to this broad. He really, really didn't.

But crap, she was cute when she laughed.

"Hey, babes." He suddenly remembered she was standing in front of him. "What've you got planned tonight?"

She was already turning away from him, absent-mindedly rearranging some titles in the bookshelf. "I figured I'd just read again."

"You like to read?"

"Love it." Bo laughed. "My family moves around a lot, so there's always that period of time where I'm not settled, and I don't know anybody. So, when that's going on"-- here she held out a book—"I read."

"Babes, that's the most depressing shit I've ever heard."

Bo looked contemplative. "You think? I think so, too."

Beetlejuice stared. "You're too young for this. You should be out doing jello shots in some dumbass kid's garage."

"Well, I like the green kind, if that helps."

Beetlejuice shook his head. "Alright, I wasn't going to do this, but since you're beginning to bum me out beyond mortal comprehension—which, heh heh, I happen to have surpassed about 600 years ago—I'm taking you to the Neitherworld."

Now it was Bo's turn to stare. "You don't even know my name."

"So?"

"Well, if you're going to hold me for ransom, it would probably be in your best interest to ask my name. You know, to make things smoother."

"If I was going to kidnap you and hold you for ransom, why would you want to make things smoother for me? Dumbass?"

He had her there.

"My name's Bo." Bo smiled.

"Bo."

"Yeah, Bo. You know, like…BAAAAAHHH." She bleated like a sheep. "It's short for Beatrice. So how do we get to the Neitherworld?" She suddenly looked excited.

"Say the magic B-word, babes."

"Three times?"

"Three."

Bo took a deep breath. "Bo! Bo! Bo!"

Beetlejuice shut his eyes. "Wrong B-word, kid."

"Oh. Heh." She blushed. "I just thought…you know….because we were talking about my name--"

"Just say it!"

"—Okay. Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice!"

And then the lights flashed.

It looked dismal. The sky was a dark, eerie orange color, and they were standing on a narrow road with no railing whatsoever…Bo really didn't want to look over the side. Falling would be unpleasant. And picturing it wasn't much better. There was also a rank smell, like a mixture of earth and bodies and death and bugs all rolled into one.

She _loved _it.

She turned to BJ. "So this is the Neitherworld. It's not…"

"It's not what, babes?"

Bo looked around more. "It's not as horrifying as I expected. Somehow, I was expecting some terror torn from the underside of the night, or something like that."

Beetlejuice smirked. "What, like, THIS?" And he turned into Freddy Kreuger, complete with claws and all.

Bo laughed and tilted her head to the side. "I was thinking more Takako Fuji's character from The Grudge. Or maybe Courtney Love. But that's pretty good, too. It shows you're old-school." She patted him on the shoulder and walked a little down the road, leaving Beetlejuice muttering to himself.

He caught up with her, floating. "Alright, alright, so classic horror movie monsters don't scare you. But believe me, babes, the Neitherworld ain't for the squeamish. There are things here that a breather like you shouldn't see." His eyes grew dark. "I've encountered some shit where I thanked God I was already dead, cause the fright would've done me in otherwise."

Bo leaned into him interestedly. "Ooh, like what?'

"Like…like…OW!" Beetlejuice looked down to see a cat biting his ankles.

Bo was trying not to smile with great, great difficulty. "Like something of the feline persuasion?"

"Goddammit, this little shit's been following me for a week!" He kicked the cat off the side of the road, where it fell through the black abyss.

"Beetlejuice! You probably killed him!"

BJ turned to look at her. Narrowed his eyes.

"Well, I mean…didn't that hurt?" Bo asked timidly.

"It'll put hair on his chest. Come on, I'm gonna show you the roadhouse."

Bo wasn't even going to ask.

They walked through the roadhouse door, and BJ hoped to hell that Ginger would be off bugging someone else. The girl may take well to giants and Freddy Kreuger, but a life-size spider would be enough to freak anyone out. He didn't relish the thought of having to calm her the hell down—unless the calming process involved some clothing removal and a good old-fashioned roll in the hay. And Beetlejuice had the nagging suspicion that Bo wouldn't recognize a pass if he whipped out a pigskin and told her to go long. So the good old "comfort then screw" strategy would probably just turn into "comfort"…and who the hell wants to deal with a hysterical chick when there's no compensation afterwards?

_She wouldn't get scared, anyway. You know that. You spent enough time with Lydia to know that. _The voice wouldn't go away, no matter how many times Beetlejuice kept telling himself that the bumbling chick walking in front of him was NOT LYDIA.

They walked into what was probably once the living room. _Time changes that, _Beetlejuice thought with a smirk, then a hint of sadness. It hadn't been the same without Lyds. The roadhouse used to always be in the state of either accommodating Lydia, or waiting to accommodate her. It used to be filled with her smell, with her photos, and just a hint of her laughter echoing around the rooms…and now…

Now… emptiness. It really wasn't a living room at all.

Trying to bring himself out of his cosmic funk, BJ turned to Bo and said, "Wanna see something cool?"

"I'd love to see something cool!"

"Alright, kid, I'll show ya."

He led her to the garage, where he kept Doomie. He flipped on the light, illuminating the bright green car.

As the light hit the vehicle, its own lights turned on, the engine revved, and the car…opened its eyes.

And saw Bo.

"BEEP BEEEEEEP!" Doomie honked triumphantly, zooming over to Bo, trying to get her into what looked like a hug.

"Jesus Christ!" BJ looked thrown. "Forget to check the oil and the car goes into fucking withdrawal!"

Bo said, still laughing, "I guess the car is a bit starved for attention, then?"

_Or it remembers her._ Slap, slap.

"Yeah, probably."


	4. The Girl Who Lost Her Sheep

_Author's Note: _So far, in this little adventure of fanfiction, I've gotten a grand total of (drum roll, please)… ONE REVIEW. That's a little disheartening, if you ask me. Look, I just want to know if what I'm posting is decent or not. Even a bad review would be welcome! My story is just so lonely! It has no one to share Christmas with! It has resorted to calling a sex hotline!

A review would be lovely, please and thank you.

All the best,

_~Kirin_

_How strange is it, _Bo thought, _to one minute be practicing the Jupiter Symphony, then the next be careening down an unfamiliar world in an unfamiliar car with a barely familiar person._

It didn't worry her, though. She still felt safe with Beetlejuice, though she couldn't put her finger on what it was that made him so endearing to her.

_Maybe it's the smell. _He smelled like a wet baseball field, which brought pleasant memories to when Bo was little and would watch her older brothers play little league baseball. The oldest, Caleb, would stand on first base, alert and ready. The youngest, Allen, would sit in the outfield, scratching his ass, looking longingly at the snack shack.

She laughed at the memory and instinctively leaned in closer to Beetlejuice, who was driving Doomie.

She was still laughing when the car suddenly stopped, pitching her out of the passenger seat, through the air, and flat on the road.

BJ didn't even bother opening the door. Instead, he flew out of Doomie and landed next to Bo's sprawled body.

"Shit." He muttered. "Shit shit. I killed a breather. Shit. Shit shit. Bo! BO! Wake up! Please wake up!"

It took a few minutes of shaking, but Bo came to life, fluttering her eyelids. She looked at Beetlejuice.

"I'm alive, then?" she asked serenely.

"S'far as I can tell." Beetlejuice replied, still slightly shaken, even more so than Bo, who was sitting up now, calmly nursing her leg, which had so much blood running down it that Beetlejuice wanted to call up Quentin Tarantino to tell him he found him a new prop.

"You're going home, kid." Beetlejuice said gruffly, picking the girl up in his arms.

"Wait, wait! I haven't seen the rest of the Neitherworld!" Bo protested, trying to hop out of BJ's arms.

"Wait, wait! I don't give a crap!" Beetlejuice mocked. "You're going home. I'm not gonna let you bleed to death out here."

"Aww, you like me after all, huh?" Bo gushed, clapping her hands.

BJ dropped her.

"Come on, pick up the pace," he grumbled, walking away.

"I guess you just show it in your own way," Bo muttered, rubbing her backside.

Bo said the magic words (the correct ones this time), and they were soon back in her room. BJ couldn't help but notice little things about Bo that seemed…quite familiar. Not a lot. Not enough to make anyone suspect that Bo might not have always been a tall yellow-haired girl who lived in Indiana and didn't know SHIT about common sense.

But there were a few things. The way she walked, for one thing. Lyds used to walk with the same air of confidence. Like she was fine with the world judging, like she had no qualms with being different.

And Bo was different. Sure, she was a bit of a ditz, but there was something underneath that clouded look in her eyes that made Beetlejuice strongly suspect that Bo may not be so clueless after all.

"So what's your story, kid?" BJ asked, sitting on her bed, putting his nasty shoes up on the clean bedspread.

Bo didn't seem to mind. "Well, I was born in Indiana."

"Riveting."

"Yes, until we moved to Afghanistan."

Beetlejuice sat forward. Afghanistan? The place where they stone women for wearing lipstick? That country? "The hell for?" he asked.

Bo was idly playing with something on her vanity. "My dad had business there. I don't know what it was. We never really talked about it. You know, I'm half Nuristani."

"Nuri-what?"

Bo laughed. She seemed used to this reaction. "It's an ethnic group in Afghanistan. We're more light-skinned than the rest of the ethnic groups. Which" –she fingered her blonde hair—"explains the blondeness."

Beetlejuice yawned, his mouth opening much wider than necessary. Bo laughed again.

"Alright, alright, so my background isn't that interesting. What's yours? How did you die, if you don't mind my asking?"

Beetlejuice didn't reply right away. No one ever asked him this question…no surprise. Why should anyone give a fuck? He'd been dead so long it didn't really matter anymore. Yeah, he'd lived through a couple of plagues. But the fact was, his life had been so uninteresting, his mind so unwilling to devote any time remembering it…that he had actually forgotten about it. His death, too. Usually you remember these sort of details, like, "I drowned in a lake," or "It was a dark and stormy night," but Beetlejuice stopped giving a shit….so…he forgot.

"It's not important," he grumbled.

Bo stared at him. She had a very peculiar way of doing that, making him uncomfortable, like she knew what he was thinking. Beetlejuice shifted awkwardly, and Bo casually averted her gaze.

"Alright," she said cheerfully, her eyes turning from Beetlejuice to the mirror on the vanity. Her tone remained casual as she asked, "Ooh, is that a giant spider in the mirror?"

It was quite large. Though it didn't exactly look like most spiders. It had two eyes, and full lips, and Bo swore she saw tap dancing shoes on each of its eight spindly legs.

"Ginger!" Beetlejuice yelled. "The hell are you doing here?!"

"Oh, hi, Beetlejuice," the spider waved, speaking in a New York accent (A New York spider, Bo mused. Very interesting). "Jacques told me he saw you with a girl—a pretty girl, I might add—made me kinda curious, so I followed you. Is this her?"

"Yeah, yeah, it's her." Beetlejuice seemed in a hurry to get the spider out of sight, and he kept looking worriedly at Bo.

"It's alright," Bo said. "I'm not afraid. I'm Bo." She inched closer to the mirror, looking straight at the arachnid.

"Bo…like…"

"Like the girl who lost her sheep, yes." Bo sighed.

Ginger looked right in Bo's eyes. Very unsettling, thought Bo, to have a spider look in your eyes.

"You look familiar, dear," Ginger tilted her head to the side. "Have we met?"

"No." Beetlejuice cut in. "Nope. Nada. Never. Totally new to the planet." He looked utterly flustered, and both Bo and Ginger turned to look at him curiously.

Bo smiled her vague smile and said, "Maybe in a past life." She laughed at the thought.

And she didn't see Beetlejuice turn several shades lighter.


	5. Come Dance With Me

_Author's note: _Wow, do I have a life. I updated two days in a row! Of course, it's summer vacation and I have yet to find a job, so that explains my loyalty to this fic. I can't just leave it for dead.

Alright, chickies, enjoy chapter 5!

Ginger finally left, thank the Lord, and Beetlejuice realized he was still stuck with a teenaged girl with a bloody knee whose sense of fun had been reduced to sitting in her room reading Edgar Allen Poe all night.

Christ on a ham sandwich, Beetlejuice thought. This SUUUUUUUCKS.

He turned to look at Bo, who was staring intently at the ceiling.

"Hey," he growled. "Hey. Hey, kid!"

Her attention snapped towards him.

"Ever been dancing before?"

He had somehow turned her plain jeans and t-shirt into a gorgeous red slinky dress, complete with scarlet stilettos and a fur stole. Her long blonde hair was curled, and she felt moisture on her lips. When she pressed her hands to them, her fingers came away red.

She was all dolled up.

Beetlejuice didn't look too bad, either. He was in a swank red suit, and his hair seemed to stick out less than usual. Bo was slowly growing very, very fond of Beetlejuice. The feeling intrigued her, because she never felt much interest for boys her age. She had contemplated the idea that she might be lesbian—she had half-hoped she was, just so she would know she had normal feelings for other human beings—but after careful consideration, she concluded the girls her age didn't interest her either. No one caught her attention in that way. The other girls she knew squealed and went on and on about cute boys, but all Bo could ever do was look at them objectively.

Take Chris Acosta, for instance. Sure, he had a nice smile. Nice hair, too, especially the way it fell into his eyes, which were also…nice. She couldn't muster up an adjective more enthusiastic than that. He was just…nice.

The other girls thought she was nuts.

But no one made Bo feel the way she felt around Beetlejuice. Sure, he would be considered rather disgusting by most, but anyone could get used to a bad smell. Just ask a janitor. And she really didn't want to ask about the green moss on his face, or the rather unpleasant substance that seemed to be stuck in his teeth all the time.

But when she saw him, she felt warm inside. Like he was a pet of hers from long ago that she lost…and now she found him. Like he was someone she used to have a lot of fun with.

Bo stepped toward him, fingering her dress. "I'm guessing we're going swinging tonight?"

"You got it. That alright with you, babes?"

Bo continued to inch closer to Beetlejuice, and he felt that strange, uncomfortable feeling, like she was reading his every thought. She placed her hands on his shoulders, and for the first time, Beetlejuice saw a mischievous smile on her face—a kind of smile he'd been missing for a long, long time.

"Let's get this show on the road." Bo said, still grinning. "Beetlejuice. Beetlejuice. Beetlejuice!"

They arrived outside a scene from the 1940s. Every woman was wearing a dress similar to Bo's, and every man sported a fancy suit and a fedora. The only difference between them and regular people were that…well…they were all dead. Burnt to a crisp, to be more precise. Bo could spot women with singed hair and charred faces, and some of the men had painful looking burns all over their faces.

Bo could hear the muffled sound of brass coming from inside the building everyone was crowding around.

"What…happened here?" Bo asked BJ, looking around.

"Bombed dancing hall during World War II," Beetlejuice replied, looking surprisingly solemn. But his face changed into a smirk as he said, "Guess the music was really smokin'!"

A woman nearby heard and glared at BJ.

Bo assumed an apologetic look for the lady and then rolled her eyes at Beetlejuice. "So all the victims come here to dance?"

Beetlejuice walked more briskly up to the front. "Well, sure, babes. After all, they died doing it. Might as well keep on keeping on, if ya know what I mean."

Bo thought that over. "Then maybe," she said, "maybe you died pulling a prank. After all, that's what you seem to do so often. Or maybe you drowned in a lake. That would explain all the mess on your face."

Bo knew she was speaking about uncomfortable topics, but she couldn't help herself. As joking and ridiculous as Beetlejuice was, he was rather a fascinating enigma to her. And she had the distinct feeling that he might have told her the things she wanted to know about him… if he felt closer to her.

"Ooh, guess who's playing tonight?" Beetlejuice squealed, obviously eager to change the subject. "Shank Cringe-Atya!

Bo never felt so uninformed in her life. "Who?"

BJ slapped his forehead. "Shit, what do they teach you kids in school? Cringe-Atya is one of the most famous jazz voices in the Neitherworld! Haven't you ever heard of 'Gross at Heart'? Or 'Put Your Nightmares Away'?

All Bo could give him was another blank stare.

"I'll never understand you breathers…" Beetlejuice muttered as they walked into the dance hall.

As soon as Bo saw the singer, she suddenly understood how he got his name. He was holding a large and rather intimidating scythe, and he appeared to be shrinking back from the audience, as though he were afraid they would climb up on the stage and kill him….again.

Beetlejuice snickered at Bo's reaction and said, "Literal translation. You know I love it. So how's about we dance, babes?"

He was becoming warmer with her, she could tell. As they twirled and danced, Bo suddenly felt light-hearted, like this was how it was supposed to be.

_It used to be like this,_ she thought. _We used to be like this all the time. Of course. How could I have been so blind? The first time I saw him in the mirror today…that wasn't the first time._

She remembered him mumbling around her, trying to be cold. She remembered how hurriedly he shooed Ginger away from the room when Bo jokingly mentioned meeting the spider in a past life. And now, suddenly, when they were dancing, he was warming up to her…

_She dances just like Lydia. _Beetlejuice had to admit it. She danced exactly like the babes he once knew. Every step, every little twirl was exactly like the little goth chick.

_I'm imagining it,_ he thought. _I want it to be Lyds, so I'm imagining it. Dammit, Freud would be proud. Shit, he's probably in here right now…_

And as he danced, he subconsciously held her tighter, was gentler when he caught her twirls, and even caressed her hair a bit.

But that was nothing compared to what happened when the last slow song played.

"_I'll be seeing you in all the old familiar places_,_" _Shank sang. _"That this heart of mine embraces all day through…"_

BJ was holding Bo in a normal slow-dance pose, with one hand holding hers, the other resting on her waist, but as the song went on, he began to get closer.

"_In that small café…"_

Both arms were around her.

"_The park across the way…"_

She was resting on his shoulder.

"_The children's carousel…"_

And he didn't care anymore. He rested his cheek on the top of her head (though she was nearly as tall as him), and they stayed that way for a long time, even after the song had ended, even after most of the crowd had gone home.


	6. There's Always Something Left

They arrived back in Bo's bedroom very late. Outside, all the other houses on the little street were dark, and only the streetlights and moon illuminated the room.

Bo's arms were still around Beetlejuice's neck, and at the moment, he seemed to be the only thing holding her up. BJ gently lifted her head up to see if she was sleeping.

He was immediately answered with a loud snore.

_Solves that mystery, _he thought.

With a flick of his hand, the bedcovers were pulled back from Bo's bed, and he gently lay her down. He wondered if maybe he should get her into some pajamas. BJ definitely didn't mind undressing the girl, but he doubted very much that she would be as thrilled as him.

However, as Bo let out another giant snore, BJ decided to go for it.

With another flick, he opened her dresser drawer and pulled out a cotton nightgown.

_Guess she's not the sexy underwear type, _he thought with some disappointment.

He pulled off her dress, slowly, so he wouldn't wake her up. That was easy.

But the bra. A problem. BJ had never been all that great with those things.

_Shit, why are there so many damn clasps? How hard is it to hold up a couple of tits?_

He turned her over, struggling with the clasps in the back, and finally got them undone.

As soon as he did, he wished he hadn't, because it was then he noticed the scars all over Bo's back.

They were everywhere. They ran like little rivers all over her pale skin, criss-crossing over each other. Like somebody had taken a knife to her again and again.

He flipped her over so she was on her back, and in the dim light, Beetlejuice saw there were more on her stomach, even a few on her breasts. Even a few reaching below her waist, dipping into her panties.

Beetlejuice ran his cool fingers over the scars, trying to zap them away. But he couldn't. No matter what kind of juice he gave it, the scars stubbornly stayed.

"What happened to you, babes?" BJ whispered out loud.

But Bo only snored softly in response.

He kissed the top of her head, a tender gesture he usually makes sure to only show to those he loves, those he keeps a shrine to in his head. Which, last time he checked, was reserved to only one person who was gone now. And she wasn't coming back.

He quickly put the cotton nightgown over Bo's head, and pulled the covers up to her chin.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When Bo woke up, she was in her own bed, which was strange, because she distinctly remembered last being in the Neitherworld.

_Maybe I'm dreaming, _she thought. She pinched herself. Then she realized the absurdity of the action. _If anything,_ she realized, _I should've pinched myself last night, because _that_ most likely was the dream. _

It was very vivid. There was a man named Beetlejuice…and she knew him in a past life…and a giant spider…and dancing…

"Mornin' babes."

"Aaaaaaaahhhh!" Bo hit her head on the bedpost in her panic. Beetlejuice was floating right above her, grinning.

"Sleep well?" he asked, coming down to sit on the bed.

"Surprisingly well," she said, rubbing her scalp.

He was snickering. "I thought you weren't easy to scare."

"I'm not," she said. "So that must've been pretty scary."

Beetlejuice would not wipe the grin off his face. "Can you expect any less from the ghost with the most, babes?"

He seemed positively gleeful that he had finally scared her. Not anything out of the ordinary. Although the thought did make Bo wonder.

Before she could stop herself, she mused out loud, "Well, I can see you're very easy to scare."

The grin dropped right from BJ's face…literally. He plucked his mouth off of her bedcovers, slapped it back on his face, and said, "The hell are you talking about? I never get scared."

Bo continued to muse. "Well, no, not like other people, but I've seen you scared plenty of the time."

BJ turned into a steaming teapot. "LIKE WHEEEEEEN?"

Bo cocked her head. "Like when we were with Doomie, the car. Like when we were with Ginger. You were scared practically all day yesterday."

Beetlejuice rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "And what am I afraid of?"

"You're afraid of losing her again."

Beetlejuice froze.

And Bo continued. "You know that I'm her, that much is clear. I doubt I'm exactly like her, whoever she was, but I probably retain the core of who she had been. And you lost her, and you were upset. You finally buried the memory of her in peace, and she comes back to haunt you, in the form of an unfamiliar girl. You don't want to get close to this girl, because if you do, it'd be like having her back, and then….then you might lose her all over again."

Beetlejuice didn't speak. Bo didn't wait for him to.

"I know what it's like to lose things. I lose things a lot."

BJ cleared his throat. "Like what?"

"Well, I lost myself in Afghanistan." Bo smiled. "See, there was this regime called the Taliban—"

"I know what they are."

Bo's smile remained. "Yes. So you know they were ruthless. They killed without reason. Or good reason, anyway. My father kept a lot of books, and anything with pictures was banned in Afghanistan. Someone tipped the Taliban off about our paintings that we hid in a cupboard in our house, so they barged in one night, arrested my father, shot my brother, and dragged me off to the back room. One of them had a glass eye, and he took a particular liking to me. After he finished with me, he took his knife and carved his name in my back. The others did the same."

Bo paused. She didn't tell this story to a lot of people. She didn't like pity, especially when it wasn't needed. But she had to drive the point home.

"So you see, I lost my innocence after that little incident. I was ten. My brother was dead, and a third of my body was scarred and ruined forever. Not to mention I had been fucked like a ten year old girl should never be fucked. The part of me that could love others, that could connect with human beings, had been…shut off. I wandered around like that for years. I guess I was afraid that if I loved deeply, if I attached myself to other people, they would crumble eventually, and I would just keep getting hurt. What's the use of loving someone if they're just going to die eventually?"

She paused again, looking at Beetlejuice's face. His eyes were downcast, but she could tell he was listening.

"It was my dad who pulled me out of this funk I was in. He pulled me into his lap and said, 'Beatrice, do you know what happens to a tree when it's cut down?'

"I replied, 'It dies.'

"He said, 'No, it becomes a trunk. There's always something left of a tree.'

"I asked him, 'What happens if someone destroys the trunk?'

"'Then there are pieces left of the trunk.'

"'And if someone burns the pieces?'

"'Then there will be ashes.'

"I said to him, 'That's not much, Dad.'

"He replied, 'But it's enough.' And that's when I found myself again."

Bo put her hand on BJ's knee. "Beetlejuice, things waste away. But there is always something left, no matter how many times it dies."

He listened to her story, knowing she wasn't telling this story for attention, or pity, but to relate to him. And goddammit, it was working. She was getting to him.

But she wasn't there when Lydia died. BJ had been SO SURE that this little cancer thing would just be a detour, a quick and easy way to get her to the Neitherworld. He was upset about all the pain she was going through, and he wasn't thrilled to see her losing her hair, or weak and helpless lying in a hospital bed, but wouldn't it be worth it when they could cruise down the Neitherworld streets with Doomie, having adventures for the rest of their afterlives?

The night she died, she had been alone with him. Visiting hours were over, so naturally, that was when BJ came to see her. No one to bug them. Just the two of them. He'd make her laugh with the latest prank he pulled on Jaques, and she'd show him some pictures she took of the nurse scratching her ass, and he'd sing to her a bit as she drifted off to sleep, sometimes reading Edgar Allen Poe on those nights when the medication was making her antsy.

Just before she drifted off that night, she whispered, "Hey, Beej. You know we'll always be together, right?"

BJ smiled. "'Course, babes. Who else would I tango with at three in the morning?"

"Beej…" she sleepily said, "I love you. You know that, right?"

Beetlejuice kissed the top of her head and replied. "Yeah, babes. I know."

And then she was gone.

He waited for her for weeks, but she never appeared. And he had thought that Lydia just wasn't meant to hang around the afterlife. She was meant to go to heaven.

He whispered aloud, without realizing it, "There's nothing left. She went to heaven."

He felt Bo's slim paw tilt his head up, and he was forced to look in her eyes…not her eyes…Lyd's eyes. Because Lydia was there. Their eyes looked nothing alike; Lyd's had been dark brown, Bo's were an intense blue. But it was like Lydia was there, waving at him.

"Beej," Bo…Lydia…whispered. "Heaven would be hell without you."

It was her. It was Lyds. There was no denying it anymore. Beetlejuice got her back, in the form of a bumbling, clueless, tall, blonde, musical, BEAUTIFUL girl named Bo Khorami. He squealed with delight and pulled her into a tight, tight hug.

Juno turned away from the mirror, smiling slightly at the scene. She wasn't any kind of a romantic, but hell. That was pretty cute. And BJ technically didn't tell the girl about the reincarnation, so she supposed she'd let it slide.

She had warned Lydia things would be difficult when she had her new life. But Lydia wouldn't hear of going to heaven.

"Well, actually," Juno had said. "It's not heaven. I mean, there are no clouds, or anything like that. It's more like an eternal, blissful sleep. I've heard it's pretty damn nice. This is your last chance, kid. Speak now or forever hold your peace."

Lydia just looked down. "Juno," she said, "Beetlejuice is my best friend. Can't I just stay in the Neitherworld with him?"

Juno sighed. "No can do. You've left your life too…pure. Most people who live in the Neitherworld are there because they need time to straighten shit out about themselves. BJ was just so out of control that we couldn't keep him anywhere else. You don't belong in the Neitherworld, kid. There's no room. You have two choices. Heaven, or reincarnation."

Lydia narrowed her dark eyes interestedly. "Does reincarnation mean I get to be with Beej?"

Juno sighed again, this one much deeper. "I can pull some strings."

"I'll do it then."

And she had relocated the little goth girl. Her next life wouldn't be anything close to the one she'd had before…except that Beetlejuice would be a part of it. The personalities were different, the body types—different. But Bo carried Lydia's soul. And a person's soul was the most important part about them. Even Beetlejuice, with his chasing skirt after skirt, knew this to be true.

Juno smiled. They'd be okay.


	7. Eighteen Moments

_A/N _So I got this idea from a wonderful fanfiction writer who wrote a story all about Lydia and Beetlejuice's little moments together. I think a lot of the story should've been about Bo and BJ's relationship, and I'd feel like I'm cheating myself if I didn't include some gushy moments.

Enjoy!

1. Practicing

Bo had been practicing the bassoon all day. It was a hard piece. She'd get out of breath faster than she usually does, and it took her forever to get some of the more complicated runs down. She thought she was alone, but then she saw Beetlejuice sitting in her pet chair.

He was smiling. "You know," he said. "I have a bit of a crush on that instrument, babes."

2. Driving

The first time she was behind the wheel on Doomie, Bo remembered the failed driving lesson her mother gave her—the one where she crashed into a cornfield. But whenever she felt scared, good old Doomie would honk and take control. She had looked over at Beetlejuice, expecting him to be just as frightened as her mother had been, but instead his hair was blowing wildly in the wind, and he was laughing maniacally. Soon, Bo couldn't help herself, and joined in.

3. Lab Partner

She brought her lab partner home to work on a lab report…and Beetlejuice couldn't resist a little fun…

4. Payback

After the lab report incident, Bo decided a payback was in order. She got help with the Monster Across the Street with this one:

"Beetlejuice! I'm just callin' to say I think I'm a-gonna move in wit ya again! I need someone to test mah new recipe for Cactus Casserole!"

Bo didn't need the phone to hear BJ's screams. She was surprised the Roadhouse didn't explode.

5. Sniffles

"You're SICK?" Beetlejuice whined as Bo blew her nose again on a tissue. "But we were supposed to go to Prince Vince's costume party tomorrow! We can't miss this! The theme is "Gross but Refined." And Vince will be there as himself!"

Bo laughed. "Well, I didn't say we had to miss it. But I need to get some rest today. I have to get better, or else I'll feel lousy tomorrow."

BJ grunted. "You want to get better? Dammit, you're GOING to get better." With that, he juiced out a table with a steaming bowl of chicken noodle soup, some Zicam, and a box of tissues.

He handed the soup to her on a tray, and whipped out a book of Edgar Allen Poe stories as she slurped from the bowl.

"Alright," he said. "'The Black Cat' or 'The Tell-Tale Heart'?"

6. Performances

He came to every one of her performances. He even brought Ginger and Jacques to one of them…the one where she'd be sitting by herself, with only a piano accompaniment, in front of a thousand people. Bo didn't usually get nervous, but the thought of BJ being one of those judging eyes made her a little ill.

It took a lot of thinking to figure out how to get them to see the show without being seen themselves. Eventually, Bo realized they could probably get up to the catwalk and watch from up there.

After the show, Bo had no idea how she did. Usually, she never wanted to know, because the performance was past and if she did well, that's great, and if she sucked, it's over now, but she HAD TO KNOW.

BJ gave her a loud, wet smack on the cheek and exclaimed, "Babes, you're brilliant!"

That was enough.

7. Dancing

In the Otherworld, they called him Frank Sinatra, and Bo loved him. Sometimes she'd summon Beetlejuice just because one of her favorite swing tunes was playing, and she wanted to dance.

Beej, however, had a taste for Harry Belafonte. Once, he even raised Bo up in the air as they danced to "Shake Shake Senora."

8. Mirrors

When the Dark Carnival came to town in the Neitherworld, Bo and BJ were more than ready.

"Backpack?"

"Check."

"Silver bullets?"

"Check."

"Garlic?"

"Check. Check! Let's go!"

The first attraction they went to was the Funhouse Mirrors (subtitled "Where No One Can Hear You Scream!") They laughed at the horrifying versions of themselves in the mirrors, and were about to walk on, when Bo saw in the reflection that Beetlejuice was trying to hold her hand.

9. Sleepovers

Sometimes Bo couldn't sleep. Pretty natural occurrence, but it was nice to have someone to talk to when that happened. Lots of times, she'd summon herself to the Neitherworld and go over to the Roadhouse. Bo and Beetlejuice would tell each other horror stories until they were both fast asleep. In the morning, she'd wake up, and his arms would be fastened around her.

10. English Class

It was like he could read her mind sometimes. Whenever Mr. Thibaudet droned on about some theme that had apparently been obvious, BJ would appear on her paper as a one of her doodles, doing a perfect impression of the monotone English teacher, complete with the walrus moustache. It was all Bo could do not to burst out laughing. But her silent giggles made kids stare anyway.

11. Acceptance

"California?! You're going to California?"

"Well, I got a music scholarship…"

"Still…California? Since when do you do sun?"

"Since never. I'm going to avoid it as much as possible. Besides, college will have me too busy to be lazing around in the sun. I'm only going because of the money. It's cheaper with this scholarship. And I'm going to become a great musician…nothing more."

"Ugh. Academic integrity. You know I hate it."

"But Beej…when I'm in college, you can come with me, right?"

"'Course, babes. I'm dead. I can go anywhere."

"And we'll still have fun? When I have time?"

"Heh heh. Those snotty Orange County kids aren't gonna know what hit them. Prepare to live in a haunted dorm, babes!"

12. Prom

Bo decided to bring Beetlejuice as her date. She couldn't think of any boy she could stand to spend the evening with, and BJ assured her he'd be in "disguise."

When she came down the stairs in her deep red dress, she nearly stumbled on the first step when she saw the stranger sitting with her parents.

He had blonde hair that fell around his face, which was smooth and clear and handsome. His hands were strong-looking, and he was wearing a very clean black suit. Overall, he was the most handsome man Bo had ever seen in her life.

They headed out the door to Doomie. Bo whispered, "You look…beautiful."

BJ gave his mischievous smile. "I got that a lot when I was alive."

13. First Kiss

"I'd like to be kissed now."

They were sitting in the car, which was now floating above the clouds. Bo's face was flushed with the dancing (all made possible by Beetlejuice's tinkering with the DJ's song choices. If any kids hadn't heard Frank Sinatra, they sure as hell had by the end of their prom).

"You ever been kissed before, babes?"

"No. But I think it'd be quite nice to have my first one after my prom."

BJ breathed faster, greatly excited by the prospect. "One kiss, coming right up."

He was about to move in when she said, "Wait. First, change back to yourself."

He went from handsome to disgusting in seconds.

"Okay. Now I'm ready."

14. Soft

His lips were the softest things she'd ever touched.

15. Crazy

Mischa liked her roommate Bo…she really did. But she wasn't sure if this girl was quite mentally sound. Sometimes, right before she'd walk into the room, she'd hear Bo talking to someone. And was that Bo that moved all the furniture in the middle of the night?

16. The Roadhouse

When Lydia was alive, the living room had been covered with her photographs. And when Bo was alive, the walls echoed with her music. She liked to practice over there a lot.

Beej wondered for the first time what gifts the next person would bring.

17. The First Job

When Bo was hired to score the most highly anticipated horror film of the year, she immediately summoned BJ and told him.

He just yawned. "You just can't surprise me anymore, babes. I'd never expect anything less of you."

18. I'll Be Seeing You

Heart attacks happen, and apparently, they run in Bo's family. Who knew? She was 74, a pretty good age to die in BJ's opinion. Nice and ripe. And DAMN she had been good with that cane.

He was sitting on her bed, taking in the smell of her room, his eyes lingering on her bassoon for just a moment.

"Welp, time to go."

He took a piece of chalk and drew a door on the wall. He also made sure to take a book with him this time.

After slumping around the Waiting Room for about ten years, his number finally came up.

"Oh my God! Is that Michael Jackson?" He pointed to the door and everyone's heads snapped in that direction, including the receptionist's.

Juno was never happy to see Beetlejuice, he knew that for sure, but he thought he saw her smiling just as he walked into the room.

"She's a bit younger this time," Juno sniffed. "Hope that's alright."

BJ didn't answer. He'd be seeing his babes soon. That's really all that mattered.


End file.
